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Shortly after Ken Dryden published his recent article in the Atlantic longtime InGoal writer Paul Campbell published some of his thoughts in a Twitter thread that stood out to us. Campbell’s takes on such varied topics as his New Aesthetics of Goaltending series including this look at Dominik Hasek and The Myth of the Standup Goalie, his Meaning of Carey Price article or his many articles exposing common myths through the use of goaltending analytics have been enjoyed by readers for many years now, always digging deeper into topics for a more nuanced look. InGoal felt our Members would enjoy seeing Campbell expand on his Twitter thoughts with a more detailed analysis of the article, published here. Whatever your thoughts, please let us know in the comments below!
There is no more respected voice of reason from the ranks of hockey’s legends than Ken Dryden; I see him more as a public intellectual than simply a wise hockey mind, and his contribution to our understanding of the game’s cultural impact is immeasurable. When he weighs in on any important topic, I pay close attention, because I’m likely to learn something. When he wades into a hockey debate, I absorb every word, nodding along with his arguments as I admire his language.
Reading Dryden’s bigger nets article in The Atlantic, I was reminded that even the most eloquent and well-reasoned figures aren’t infallible. His assessment of the modern game is uncharacteristically weak, both in its specific details and its overall trajectory.
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Excellent rebuttal
Thanks for that. Dryden is so respected and influential,
I thought it was important to point out the problems in his piece.
Wow, there’s so much to unpack here, thanks for the analysis. Another thing Dryden seems to ignore is the new stick technology which turns everyone into a 90+ mph shooter by individually customizing the flex to each shooter’s strength and technique. This also improves accuracy tremendously by having each player’s stick identical to the last.
These changes are even noticeable at the beer league level where physically weaker and less talented players now can pick openings with speed and accuracy. The comparison to wooden sticks is that there is no comparison…….. 🙂
There are several items that hit me as a bit over the top in Ken Dryden’s article. First off I understand that Dryden used a 28 inch paddle when he was int he NHL, which would be 4 inches longer than the legal limit fo 24 in the day. Also, at six feet five inches tall, he was by far the tallest in the league at the time, far above the difference from average on Ben Bishop today.
As tot he ascetics of the goals today, do not blame the goalies, blame the shooters! How often do you see a forward, even highly skilled forward, come downtime ice just outside the slot, and skate themselves into the corner, instead of shooting right when the goalie has to adjust for angle? How many times do they cross the royal road, only to skate around the net, instead of taking a shot back across the grain like Rick Macliesh? There are a number of excuses, That’s any easy save for the goalies of the NHL, this holds no pucks! I can save any shot not taken, they are NHL quality shooters, take the shot, and make the goalie make a save.
Great discussion. Both Ken Dryden’s piece (my childhood hero!) and the rebuttal. As an attorney, I applaud both sides. I was surprised Ken didn’t mention the rotating pad. And, I think it’s also relevant to point out that modern goaltending has somewhat created a rut of sorts in the past decade with the butterfly style. I see far more goals scored now without shooters looking at the net because they know precisely where a goalie will be when they are on the ice in any given section of it. We marvel at Sid and Conner every time they do it, but part of it (beyond their insane talent) is the predictability of goaltending positioning. My son is a junior goalie now, and I will say that in the last couple of years, we are starting to see variations of goalie positioning, i.e., options that goalies can use in different situations, which is great to see…now it’s not always RVH every time the guy hits the dead zone. Sometimes it’s VH, sometimes it’s overlap….the goalie needs to read the play to determine the save selection best for that situation AND for their style. So, ultimately I disagree with Ken Dryden that all the modern goalie has to do is stay on their knees and fill the net as best they can. They MUST be athletic. There was a sports analytical piece done a couple of years ago, putting a huge sumo wrestler in net and they had an NHL player shoot on him (and not a top scorer). He scored every time. Before you knock Sumos as non-athletes, I’ve lived in Japan and seen these guys work their craft up close. They are masters at quick, forceful, movements in small spaces. Anyway, love the discussion and the discord. Always good to look at modern problems and try to solve them.
I agree that a variety of net positions can throw shooters off both at the NHL level down to beer league. Carolina has several smaller goalies that stay on their feet in particular situations that sometimes confound shooters by covering the current ‘go to’ upper part of the net. At the beer league and pickup level, younger shooters especially are constantly hitting me in the shoulders and upper chest because of my old Parent style stand up saves (I’m 68 years old), My style had to adapt to hybrid over the years, but I still make a fair number of saves attacking angles standing up…………..
WE NEED MORE PAD STACKS!!!